Dueling was nearly silent as we waited for the master to arrive so that we could begin. Even Amelia, usually talkative, was quiet, adjusting her weight and touching what looked like a wand on her hip. Other apprentices carried similar items, such as staves, bracelets, and glowing pendants. I felt a brief twinge of envy but pushed it down. Useless emotions like that would only slow my actions.

There was a brief shuffle of feet beside me, and I glanced over to see Sophia standing within arm's reach, staring at me with her pale blue eyes. They appeared like chips of ice, matching the cold, almost bored look she typically wore.

"Do you intend to fight?"

"I..." I trailed off, still unsure. If I performed well, it could lead to bruised egos and insulted nobles. They, generally speaking, did not take well to that and might try to take revenge however possible. My connection to the Esttons would shield me from some of that, but there was still a social expectation. I was a servant and a commoner and should not exceed my 'betters.'

But those teased prizes sounded tempting as anything, and though subtlety had a place, was it here? Should I let the veil fall now rather than feign weakness and let opportunities slip away?

She stared at me for a moment and then said, "Don't hold back. Understood?"

"I-my lady?" I asked, blinking a few times at her declaration, but before she could elaborate, Master Barlow arrived.

"Glad you all made it. Now, since we have limited time, I will go over the rules quickly. Duels will go until the first to land a 'fatal' wound, first to be knocked out of bounds, or otherwise disable their opponent. There are seventeen of you, which means two unlucky apprentices will have an extra battle to narrow it down to sixteen. To maintain fairness, the winner will go last of the eight subsequent matches. Any questions?"

"Are there restrictions on what spells to use?" someone asked, though I did not recognize the voice.

"No. Before each match, I will bind a protection spell onto the combatants, which will prevent any fatal injuries during duels. The ring itself will restrict your magic from harming the rest, so feel free to go all out. Anything else?"

No one spoke, and she nodded, continuing, "I have decided, for the sake of encouraging you to go all out, to offer rewards to the top eight apprentices. This reward will improve if you reach the top four, two, and so on. Now, let's get started."

There was a chorus of agreements, and Barlow grinned before waving a hand. Behind her back, white lines appeared, resolving into alines of names. In seconds, we had the competition bracket. I glanced at the list, trying to find my name before sighing as I realized it was not listed with the other fifteen. It seems I was one of the unlucky apprentices fighting an extra battle.

Either Barlow had it out for me, or I was just unlucky. At least my opponent was a weaker apprentice, one that I had never bothered learning the name of for that exact reason.

We walked forward, facing towards one another, and Barlow glanced between us before shouting, "Begin!"

I stepped back, muttering under my breath and moving closer to the edge of the ring as mana weaved through my channels. The incantation for my newly named Traveler's Shield was fast and easy now, after dozens of repetitions over the last week. My opponent did much the same, though she was decidedly less subtle as she shouted with brownish energy swirled around her.

A form-fitting green shell appeared around me a second before two brown mana bolts slammed into the surface. It shimmered, humming for a moment but did not break, and I held back a smile.

It was not pretty, impressive, or even particularly inventive, but I had decided to essentially copy my future counterpart for now. When it came down to it, I had large reserves of energy and unusually high raw power thanks to Aether, both of which favored this style. As long as my defenses were up, I should be nearly untouchable for any other apprentice. My opponent seemed more than happy to test this idea out for herself.

Earth magic was straightforward and slow, an element with offensive, defensive and battlefield control spells in equal parts. First-years lacked the skill or mana to mix and match, and so my opponent leaned into just one preference, reckless offense. At least her attacks reminded me of a fascinating aspect of elemental magics.

Even if a spell was not typically aligned to one element, it often gained traits representative of the type used. In this case, Mana Bolt had a measure of weight and hardness, closer to rock than pure energy. I could not help but wonder how it would compare head to head with my Aether mana.

For a minute straight, the earth mage slung blast after blast into my shell, and I sat unmoving, letting her exhaust her relatively meager reserves. The only thing impressive about the performance was her control, but even that seemed bolstered by her bracers, which shone dimly as she cast.

When her bolts grew noticeably weaker, and she stood hunched over with sweat pouring down her face, I knew she had worn herself thin. I dropped my shield, raising a hand and conjuring a single beam before launching it, aiming for her shoulder.

It hit home, and there was a white shimmer that passed over her body as Master Barlow declared, "Winner, Vayne!"

I decided to ere on the side of caution and bowed low to my opponent before turning and walking away, catching Sophia's eye as I returned to the group of apprentices. Most of them muttered and stared, with at least one grumbling at my victory, but the young noble gave me a brief nod. At least one of them seemed satisfied with my performance.

"Nice job," Amelia whispered to me, nudging me with her elbow, and I mentally corrected myself.

The other matches began, and I quickly realized that many apprentices were not nearly as far above me as I thought. I had a good idea of their abilities from past classes, but even now, without restrictions, they did not impress. Several relied heavily on magical tools, and thanks to this, it appeared that their actual technical abilities had fallen behind.

But for every apprentice who fell into the trap of overreliance, another showed the full breadth of their skills. Sophia was always a standout, and the combination of fast lightning magic and an aggressive style let her blast through defenses and win her first match. Theo fought similarly, but with more flash and waste as he sent waves of flames as wide around as my torso across the ring.

As it turned out, Amelia's weapon was not a wand but a staff, shrunken down with an enchantment. The surface became covered in an icy sheen in battle, and mists enshrouded her body and filled the ring, making it difficult to perceive figures. She had shown the second trick in previous classes, but the first was a new one. This combination proved unorthodox enough to win her a spot in the second round, though not without difficulty.

Besides those three, two more stood out as unusual foes. Elise, an airy young woman who seemed almost sleepy most classes and a quiet, darker-skinned man named Mire, won their fights with apparently effortless grace.

I could not tell what element Elise used, but whatever it was, she had done something remarkable with it. Somehow, she could redirect other's magic and use it against them. I had no clue how it worked, but it got her through her first fight without a scratch. Not many opponents expected their attacks to come flying back twice as fast, countered with barely a raised hand.

Mire was similarly a mystery. I knew he was a wood mage, typically famed for healing and unique spells to grow and control plants. Whatever the case, his first opponent was still weaving mana when he swayed on his feet before collapsing, unharmed but without a doubt unconscious. Barlow had a good laugh at that one as the other apprentices murmured suspiciously.

I had a guess what he did but would still prefer not to find out first-hand. My Traveler's Shield might block the effects if I was right, but not entirely.

For my next fight, I was matched against a water mage who relied on constructs to win his battles, reminiscent of a mythical Kraken. Like before, I immediately opened with my defensive spell, using a Mana Shield this time to give me a bit more added space and grounding. It was possible if I used the Traveler's Shield, he might just physically pick me up and toss me out of bounds.

The tendrils speared into my shield, wriggling around and encircling the half-sphere. I suspected he was trying to find a weak point, a wise strategy in theory. If he could pierce the defenses and lock me in place, he would win. And if this took place a week earlier, he might have succeeded. The blocked channels would have left flaws in the shielding.

But that was not the case, and with my mana reserves refilled from the long rest, bolstered by my raw power, it became a battle of attrition. After a few minutes, he had joined my first opponent in defeat, too exhausted to marshall any meaningful defense. It had taken more energy this time, but I was still in decent shape as I walked back to the dwindling group of eight winners.

In the second round, the battles passed much the same. Theo narrowly defeated another fire mage, his slight speed and stamina advantage, as well as a glowing ring which must have given him some edge, winning the battle.

Amelia faced off against Elise, and her weapon proved the superior choice for that fight. For all of her skill and unorthodox tricks, Elise seemed to rely too heavily on other mage's spells too much and not enough on her own. She seemed to try and wrest control over Amelia's mist spell away, possibly to blind or disorient her, but for some reason, she failed.

Mire and Sophia fought one another, and whatever trick he used the first time did not work in the second. Sophia had not bothered with any long-winded preparations or attempts to cleverly subvert his unseen magic. No, she had raised both hands, moved her fingers like a trained pianist, and sent out two separate lightning bolts at once, aimed at his hip and shoulder. The battle was won within a handful of seconds.

My third opponent, another earth mage who I vaguely recalled was named something started with an N, was a classmate of mine in Forging. He must have applied some of the lessons to her casting, as rather than mana bolts, he conjured actual physical rocks, sharpened at one end into cones that tried to pierce my defenses.

Like with the first two, it turned into a stamina contest, but it was a little too close for comfort this time. His attacks actually managed to crack my shield, and every time it did, I had to expend energy repairing it. I could sense that he was burning through more than me, but he was not an idiot. I could not drop my defense without opening up to an attack, which meant I had to weather this until either he ran out of energy or I did.

By the time I won, my reserves were around three-quarters depleted. Though I had a few minutes to rest, that would not be near enough to restore myself.

In hindsight, I could have and should have used my Mana Beam right away and aimed to finish off my foes fast. It would undoubtedly anger some of them, but I would be in much better shape for the next fight. But there was no point in regretting the mistakes. The best I could do was live, learn and improve for the next battle.

When I looked back up at the brackets, I held back a groan. I had hoped not to face him, but again, luck was not on my side today. Theo looked positively delighted, flashing a grin to his friends that screamed self-assuredness. It turned into a sneer as he met my eyes, practically staring down his nose at me.

We walked to the ring, and I took the chance to examine his mana more closely, feeling a frown cross my face unbidden. He felt nearly restored, his decently impressive reserves already almost refilled. Either he was much more talented than he let on and hid it well, or more likely, his father bought him talent. Either way, it was a problem and one without a ready solution.

I pushed down the stab of envy and mentally resigned myself to the top four. Considering my position, it was an excellent performance, though at least part of it came down to luck. Against Mire, Sophia or Elise, I doubted I could have won. And at least a part of it came down to my mana and its current advantages. Once the other apprentices began training superior gathering methods and mastered their elements, that would change.

Theo spoke, interrupting my thoughts, and said, "You managed to get this far considering your low birth. A credit to your lords, no doubt. It is a shame you forgot your place, but I am more than ready to remind you of it."

He was not usually one to insult me publicly, but the murmured agreements told me it was a common sentiment. I decided, there and then, to defeat him however possible. A family friend to the Esttons or not, the man was insufferable.

The shout "Begin!" came, and Theo stepped forward, both hands up as a gout of red-orange ripped free, blasting towards me. My eyes widened, and I jumped to one side, abandoning my half-formed spell as he nearly defeated me with a single attack. I would need to thank Sig after class for his training as I rolled to my feet.

I had barely stood when another blast came, and I scrambled, reversing direction and running to the other side. My mana felt sluggish and difficult to control while moving. Mentally, I swore and cursed myself. I should have practiced more or prepared better, but instead, I wasted time socializing. Idiotic.

Theo laughed, shouting, "Running? Mages do not run, Vayne! We fight! Like this," and sent two streams at me, boxing me into the corner.

I knelt, putting both hands forward and forcing mana out in an uncontrolled blast. It was sloppy, inefficient, and wasteful, but the raw power was enough to deflect the attack to one side. Barely.

The barrage ended, and Theo stood facing me, a hand on one hip and a grin on his face.

"You may give up if you'd like. Though you might think otherwise, I am not a sadist. I would rather not waste the energy on you regardless." Theo remarked, flames flickering in his hand.

I remained silent, feeling mana swirl in my arm and gather, keeping my palm facing down towards the ground. If Theo was going to brag like a fool, I would gladly take advantage.

"Engage, or I will disqualify both of you!" Barlow shouted, and Theo shrugged, holding up his hand and sending another blast of flames.

But this time, I was prepared and threw forward my left hand, sending my beam right into the center of his attack. The blast hit the flames and pierced through, exiting the other side. I could not see if it hit home as Theo's attack washed over me. My eyes slammed shut on reflex, and I held up both hands, instinct screaming at me to run from the flames.

A moment later, they cleared, and Theo stood, eyes wide and the familiar white shielding visible on his stomach. Had my attack struck first, or had his?

"Winner, Vayne!" shouted Master Barlow, and I had my answer.